Ronald Reagan by Peter Wallison The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency

An icon of the twentieth century, Ronald Reagan has earned a place among the most popular and successful U.S. presidents. In this compelling firsthand account of Reagan's presidency, Peter J. Wallison, former White House Counsel to President Reagan, argues that Reagan took office with a fully developed public philosophy and strategy for governing that was unique among modern presidents. "I am not a great man," Reagan once said, "just committed to great ideas." Wallison shows how Reagan's unyielding attachment to certain key ideas-communicated through his speeches-created a cohesive administration and revived the spirit of the nation. In Ronald Reagan, Wallison describes what it was like to be on Reagan's White House staff and how Reagan's attachment to principle produced both the best and worst days of his presidency. Updated with a new epilogue.

Peter Wallison is a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. In 1981, he was appointed General Counsel of the Treasury, and from April 1986 to March 1987 was Counsel to the President.

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But when Wallison strays from this point, he can sound like a crank, suggesting, for example, that the Iran-Contra affair was “nothing more than a foreign policy blunder.” (He does, however, offer a plausible explanation of how Reagan let the imbroglio spin out of control.) Also, the author’s bel...